My husband and I are ttc and if we have a girl we want to name her [name]Ivy[/name] [name]Angelina[/name] (my mother’s name is [name]Angela[/name]). Because that is decided, I’ve begun working on a second name that honors my dad. Unfortunately, my dad’s name is [name]Billy[/name] [name]Eugene[/name]-not easy to come up with something dh and I both love using [name]Billy[/name] or [name]Eugene[/name]. I tried the suggestion of [name]William[/name]…but my dad’s name is not [name]William[/name]…it is [name]Billy[/name] on his birth certificate and he doesn’t identify with [name]William[/name] at all :-/
So my question is do you think using [name]Lilly[/name] for a girl would be too much of a stretch? I mean it only changes the first letter. [name]Do[/name] you think [name]Ivy[/name] and [name]Lilly[/name] together are too “naturey”?
Let me know what you think!
Thanks!
While I think [name]Ivy[/name] and [name]Lilly[/name] are fine as sisters, I do think that [name]Lilly[/name] from [name]Billy[/name] is too much a stretch. I would just go with [name]Billie[/name] or [name]Billie[/name]-[name]Jean[/name] to honor your dad.
I think that [name]Lilly[/name] is a lovely way to honor your dad, and [name]Ivy[/name]/[name]Lilly[/name] is a cute combo. I also was going to suggest pansy’s idea of using [name]Billie[/name]. What about something like [name]Sybill[/name]?
I assume this is a surprise for him and you don’t want to ask him for suggestions? lol.
I agree with @pansy, they work as a sibset but [name]Lilly[/name] is a bit of a stretch, maybe you could ask your dad what name he would like or would you consider [name]Eugenie[/name]?
I wouldn’t say [name]Lilly[/name] is too much of a stretch. Other names that are similar to [name]Billy[/name] are [name]Bella[/name] (again, changing just a couple of letters), [name]Belinda[/name] (I’ve heard it used to get to [name]Billie[/name] on a girl), [name]Sybil[/name] (has the [name]Bill[/name] sould at the end). For [name]Eugene[/name] there’s the obvious [name]Eugenie[/name] but I think anything with the [name]Jean[/name] sound in it would work - [name]Jeanie[/name], [name]Gina[/name]/[name]Georgina[/name]/[name]Regina[/name], [name]Jeanette[/name], etc.
I would use [name]Billie[/name]. [name]Lily[/name] is nice even paired with [name]Ivy[/name], but it is a bit of a stretch.
Maybe keep the same initials as your father. Like [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Eloise[/name], [name]Brianna[/name] [name]Elowen[/name], [name]Bailey[/name] [name]Elena[/name].
I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch especially with the [name]Lilly[/name] spelling. [name]Eugenie[/name] and [name]Eugenia[/name] are both sort of pretty as middle names too. As for [name]Ivy[/name] and [name]Lilly[/name] being too nature-y together I feel like the"ll" spelling makes it less floral and takes away a little of the cheese factor of just [name]Ivy[/name] and [name]Lily[/name].
[name]Blithe[/name] [name]Eugenie[/name] would be wonderful. You could call her [name]Billy[/name], and [name]Blithe[/name] is such a special word name I love [name]Blithe[/name] and [name]Ivy[/name] as sisters!
For a boy, [name]Bellamy[/name] [name]Eugene[/name] would be my pick, but I know most people consider [name]Bellamy[/name] best suited for a girl.
If I were [name]Billy[/name], I would not feel very honoured by having a granddaughter named [name]Lilly[/name]. However, I’m not sure I would feel better about [name]Blithe[/name]. I’m probably not really making it any easier for you XD
I kind of think if you’re going to name your child after someone, it has to be obvious or just the same letter. [name]Angelina[/name] is pretty obviously named for [name]Angela[/name], I would not instinctively make the same connection with [name]Lilly[/name]/[name]Billy[/name]/[name]Blithe[/name].
If I were you and this was important to me, I would use [name]Anna[/name] and [name]Blithe[/name]. Neither is very obvious, but neither can be denied once it’s been said that they’re named for their grandparents
Thanks for the responses! All forms of Eugene are out and dh won’t even hear of using Billie or Jean (sounds too “country”) that’s why I thought of Lilly because nothing with Billy or Eugene will work. I did want to surprise him…but I know what he’d say if I asked him…“Just name her Billie!” and I don’t want to tell him that we hate the name :-/
Someone once suggested Willa/Willow…and while I like Willow, I think that is way more of a stretch than Lilly.
I don’t see why using the first letter of a name is more of an honor than all of the other letters except the first one.
When it gets to that time, I guess I will have to suggest Lilly and tell him it is after him and see what he thinks. I am first and foremost going to choose a name I love…I’m not going to choose a name I don’t like just to honor him, even as much as I love him. My mom’s middle name is Denise after her great aunt and both she and my grandma (her mom) hates it…she said grandma should have altered it to fit her style rather than use a name she thought was ugly just to honor someone and I agree.
Thanks again!
I love [name]Blithe[/name] and [name]Ivy[/name] as sisters!